Still written all over his face

[Times photo:Daniel Wallace 2001 ] Jack Hansen had a patriotic message inked onto his forehead last September, after the terror attacks. Hansen, 27, is touring Germany with his death metal band; sources say the tattoo remains and Hansen has no regrets.

Colors of patriotism Many grit teeth and shed blood for tattoos showing love of country.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Yes, Jack Hansen really did get a tattoo on his forehead last year.

No, he hasn't had it removed yet.

Yes, people do stare at him everywhere he goes.

And no, it hasn't hurt his job prospects.

"It didn't end his career. He's an anarchist in a death metal band. He's still getting tattoos," said Rob Glazier, owner of Tattoo Emporium in downtown St. Petersburg, where Hansen is a repeat customer.

Hansen's photograph was in the Times eight months ago, illustrating an article about people getting patriotic tattoos in the wake of Sept. 11. Most of these people were having flags or eagles inked onto their skin, usually with a defiant slogan: Don't Tread on Me. Home of the Brave. These Colors Don't Run. Made in the USA. Still Free.

Hansen, 27, took the idea further than most.

He reportedly has no regrets, but he isn't around to verify that. He's in Germany with his band, which is cheerfully named Against All. (Not to be confused with Against All Authority or Against All Odds, two other Florida punk bands.)

Against All is touring 15 European countries in six weeks. Hansen plays guitar.

"He called me from France. They're all flat broke. He's having a ball," said his mother, Brenda Hansen Twarog of St. Petersburg.

She declined to comment on the face tattoo; she'd prefer to let her son discuss it.

Just for the record, the tattoo is real.

Back when the newspaper article appeared, some readers pegged the photograph for a hoax. They sent pointed e-mails saying so.

But a Times photographer watched the tattoo go on. Scout's honor. Tattoo artist Frank Donofrio drew the design on Hansen's forehead, then inked over it with a needle.

"He doesn't regret getting it. He's in a hardcore, grindcore band," Donofrio said. "He came back after that and got a big demon face on his chest."

In fact, Hansen has tattoos all over. He put "God Bless the U.S.A." on his forehead partly because he was running out of space everywhere else.

The post-Sept. 11 passion for patriotic tattoos has pretty much run its course. No more flags, no more eagles. Most tattoo shops are back to engraving customers' limbs with jagged black tribal designs or twisty Japanese power symbols.

"Ask me about the guy who got strands of barbed wire tattooed over his eyebrows," said Glazier, the Tattoo Emporium's owner. "That guy gets messed with every single day of his life."

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